As the booming of popular culture in modern life, other cultural forms such as musicals, dramas and popular songs have affected local operas across China. And this is the case for Han opera, which originated in the Hanjiang River Valleys in central China’s Hubei Province 400 years ago.

    Han opera are facing difficult times, local reports said. Its fans are getting old while young people these days are reluctant to watch operas, saying its out of fashion and hard to understand, so the audience of Han opera decreased sharply during the past two decades.

    “The price of a Han opera performance is 10 Yuan (US$1.25), much lower than a 50-Yuan film ticket, but audience did not watch. Sometimes, there were only five people watching during a performance”, Xiong Guoqiang, head of Han Opera troupe said.

    Due to shrinking market demands, several Han opera troupes have been disbanded or incorporated into other troupes in the past few years. Meanwhile, as a result, young people refused to study Han opera and took it as their careers.

    Great efforts have been made to rejuvenate the opera. According to people’s daily, experts have planed to seek World Heritage status Han Opera from the United Nations in a bid to protect it from extinction.

    The stories and music are also updated with dazzling lights, luxury scenery and elaborate costumes to attract audience.

    Known as one of the sources of Beijing Opera, Han Opera has an especially rich flavor of Hubei culture.